Site #4--

• The A. E. Wood Fish Hatchery, located on Staples Road (FM 621), is a left turn off Hwy 123, just east of IH 35. Take the same turn just past Chuck Nash, as headed for Cape Road. FM 621 angles between Cape Rd. and Hwy. 123.

  Hatchery ponds appear on the left. Park off the road. From the roadside, numbers of waterfowl are often seen: Great Blue Herons, Great Egrets, Double-crested Cormorants, Ring-billed Gulls, Bonaparte's Gulls, Snowy Egrets, dowitchers, and many duck species.

  An excellent habitat is found inside the hatchery property along the San Marcos River, and is open to birders by arrangement (call 353-3492 IN ADVANCE).

  Best times are in winter and early spring. Belted Kingfishers feed there year round, swallows are common in spring and summer. A resident female Osprey nest there while herons and egrets neighbor nearby. Every day, 8-5, drive near the main building to see Purple Martin houses. Bird and butterfly garden were installed in 1995 by a local Scout troop.